The muscle building work is ok. Any exercising isn't going to be bad for

you

(unless you
do it wrong / excessive). But the muscle work on your chest, tris, back,
bis, shoulders, etc
isn't going to do much to help your "love handle" stomach. It will burn a
few calories and that's
good, but beyond that it isn't going to help much.

It isn't? Later in your post you talk about how muscle burns more calories
than fat. Do you know how many calories are burned lifting?

I think putting some serious cardio in there will help you. The cardio

will

take a lot more calories of work

It will?

and start you into the "fat burning" mode.

What is this "fat burning mode" you talk about? Something you pick up on a
website somewhere? Please, tell us how we too can be in the fat burning
mode!

With the weight lifting, unless you
really really push it, you are not raising your heart rate and getting

into

the fat burning mode.

Aren't you burning calories? Cardio is great for CV health but it's not the
only (or even, necessarily the best) way to burn fat.

I'm in a somewhat similar situation.

So you're speaking from experience, oh wait, you haven't solved YOUR problem
but you can tell someone else how to do it? Course, later on you talk about
how what you're doing isn't really working so you're advice is worth.....?

I'm also about 165, though shorter and
with more than just "love handles". I too would really like to loose a lot

from my stomach

area. But I'd also like to put a little muscle on my bones.

Looks like you've got some goals to work towards. Now which one first, lose
fat or gain muscle?

I happen to have quite a bit of time for the gym right now...so what I'm

So you work each body part once a week? If your current goal is muscle gain
I'd suggest a full body routine (I'd suggest HST) 3 times a week.

- After the lifting, 30 minutes on the cardio. Maybe 45 if I feel the

energy

that day.

This cardio is fine for fat loss. For muscle gain I'd suggest doing it on
non-lifting days.

- Sometimes I miss a day or two here and there. I try to do the cardio
anyway even if no time for the lifting.

I also wonder that abdominal / "core" muscle work might be helpful. As I
understand it, working those
muscles will NOT help directly burn the fat that is stored in that area.
BUT...I'm thinking that if/when I do loose
some fat from that area, the more defined muscles there will help it look
all that much better.

You mean the "larger" muscles there will help it look...... not "more
defined".

The fat probably isn't a problem (especially if it's "good" fat) but the
excess calories is counter-productive to fat loss.

I got the program from FitDay.com.
(Note: They charge $29 but if you join the free web site first and click
around you can get it for $19). Using that
I see that most days I still eat more calories than I burn off.

That's a problem if your goal is fat loss.

~ OK, I know it isn't exact because the foods I enter
and the workout I enter aren't 100% accurate. But I think it's showing me
that in general I eat pretty close to
what I burn in a day. Some days I'm a little negative (less eaten then
burned), most days it's about equal, and
some days I binge a little and eat more than I burn. ~ This last usually
occurs when I go out to dinner or to someone else's house for dinner. '

You need to get your diet to more closely match your goals. (you don't
mention how much protein you're consuming, how many meals, etc.)

Another part of my problem is evening snacks: During the day and even
through dinner I do pretty good with not eating too much fat, only good

fats (poly-unsaturated), and an ok

number of calories. But in the evenings I usually want to snack. I'm

trying very hard to either not snack

or only snack on more healthy things (apple sauce with whet germ, even

fat-free yogurt). But some times I

eat some junk (cookies, chocolate, etc.) anyway. It would be easier if

I have been lifting for about 2 years now, I would like to step it up,

I'm

5'10, 165lbs. I am fairly slender, my goal is to bulk up and get some
definition, but at the same time the only part of my that isn't really
slender is my stomach area, I guess you can say I'm skinny fat;) I would
like to trim that up a bit...

My routine recently (for the past 6 months) has been the following:
1 - Chest / Tris
2 - Back / Bis
3 - Shoulders / Legs (sometimes i'll do shoulders one day and legs the
next)
*** 4 sets, 12reps,10reps,8reps,6reps for all excersises. increasing the
weight as i go down in reps ***

I would do the above routine and if I didn't make it one day that would

be

my rest day then just start the routine over again, so I could do chest

/

tris twice a week... I would work in abs 2x per week and do minimal
cardio (15-20mins). I usually get to the gym 4-5 days a week. I

attempted

to do the hypertrophy, but honestly I don't have to dedication to be so
meticulous and time to figure out everything the program calls for,

soo...

I'm asking anyone for some advice on what you might think I should

change

or modify? Nutrion wise also.... Or recommend any websites that have
specific training routines... Again, I consider myself fairly slender

but

have some love handles and fat in the stomach area.... Please be

specific

on any recommendations! ! ! I have been taking creatine / glutamine and
whey protein, I do try to eat as often/much as possible as i know that

Relevant Pages

Re: Bulking up & Toning Up advice........ The muscle building work is ok. ...calories of work and start you into the "fat burning" mode. ... I see that most days I still eat more calories than I burn off. ...(misc.fitness.weights)

Re: Weight loss advice... rate than she's losing fat.... This would explain the tighter fitting clothes; the muscle under the ...calories.... the faster you will lose weight....(misc.fitness.weights)